OIIE Team

Senior Director, Office of Innovative Instruction and eLearning

Biography

Dr. John Randall has been helping others use technology in educational settings since 1994. His professional career began as a corporate instructor who trained employees on various software applications. In 1998, John accepted the position of Technology Coordinator at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church and School in Lake Forest, California, where he taught computer classes, managed the network, servers, and website, as well as helped teachers use technology in a sound pedagogical manner. In 2004, he began teaching for Concordia University Irvine as an adjunct professor in the School of Education. In 2007, he took a full-time position with Concordia Irvine as a professor of Instructional Design as well as the Senior Director of Faculty Training and Development. In 2016, John earned his Doctorate in Education with an emphasis in Learning Technologies from Pepperdine University.

Director, Instructional Design

Biography

After studying comparative literature at UCLA, Seema Atalla began her career as a literary translator and community college professor. She taught in the English department at Mt. San Antonio College for nearly ten years, focusing mainly on developmental writing courses. She also initiated development of the Arabic language program for the Department of World Languages, writing curriculum and creating instructional materials, then becoming the first to teach Arabic classes at Mt. SAC.

Eventually she returned to graduate school to earn her M.S. in Instructional Design and Technology from Cal State Fullerton, completing a five-semester cohort-based program with honors. Her thesis project focused on high-impact practices that foster student engagement.

In 2015, Seema joined Concordia University Irvine as Assistant Director of Instructional Design. She served in that position for nearly three years, before her promotion to the role of Director in August 2018. As Director, she is tasked with managing online course development across all programs. She also continues to work one-on-one with subject matter experts to design and develop individual courses. At Concordia University Irvine, Seema appreciates the warm and welcoming community, and the chance to work with so many staff and faculty members across campus. She also enjoys the opportunities for Christian fellowship, and especially loves the traditional hymns at Tuesday-Thursday chapel.

Director, Academic Media Development

Biography

After earning his B.S. in Aquatic Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Alex Ray worked as a field scientist conducting subtidal marine surveys with the PISCO Lab at the northern Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara and Ventura. The purpose of the surveys was to monitor and assess the effectiveness of marine protected areas in supporting wildlife populations and biodiversity. Some of the results and conclusions can be found at CINMS After 10 Years.

Alex ultimately left fieldwork to return to school to obtain his single-subject teaching credentials in biology, chemistry, and geosciences from the University of California, Irvine. His work in the credential program eventually led to a master of science degree from UCI in Biological Sciences and Educational Media Design. This in turn led to his work on a multiyear National Science Foundation grant tasked with investigating the effects of arts-science integrated curricula on student achievement in earth, life, and physical sciences. Publications of results are pending.

In 2016, Alex came to Concordia University Irvine to join the Office of Innovative Instruction and eLearning where he currently serves as Director of Academic Media Development. Although his responsibilities vary, his academic and research interests are focused on efficient leveraging of media to support student learning in ways that weren’t readily accessible during his own undergraduate and graduate school education. Of particular interest to him is the concept of tailoring asynchronous design to meet students’ spatial and temporal limitations through the use of intentional versus opportunistic learning opportunities and matching them to appropriate instructional media.

Alex and his wife, Jess, live in Dana Point with their two children. When he can get the time, he enjoys free diving and spearfishing off the California and Baja coastlines and, after a good day on the water, feeding his family freshly caught treats from the deep.